Chapter Text
Aligned Crosshiars
It was a quaint afternoon in the outskirts of Sunset City. Mountains surrounded the city at its outskirts, standing silently over them. The afternoon sun descended closer to the horizon as the day neared its end. Its warm radiance touched the mountains. Branches of trees swayed as the winds flew past. It was silent for the most part. Faint noises of the busy city below echoed across.
The mountains had always stood here, watching over the city. They stood steadfast as the city grew over the decades. Watching as the wrath of Eggman and the metal virus tore through the city. Despite it all, the city stood. The mountains witnessed the resilience of the city and its citizens as they restored their city, piece by piece.
All was quiet until a loud shot rang in the forest. Another shot rang out, then another.
The silence of the forest was soon filled with the echoes of shots. Just as suddenly as they began, they stopped. For a moment, the forest returned to its silence. Then, the Shots began ringing out again. A brown lynx sporting a leather bomber jacket with a furred collar dashed through the overgrown trail of the forest.
His jacket brushed against the shrub. His hand, donned in a brown, rugged, fingerless glove, gripped the peculiar wispon tightly. His equally battered boots thudded on the ground with each step he took. Each breath came desperate, needy and heavy in short bursts.
Not a short time ago, Percy’s Hunting Wispon, as he calls it, had a malfunction in the middle of the Finals of the Sunset City Wispon Sharpshooting Competition. This forced him to make impromptu repairs, which cost him a moment. A moment too much, for his opponent was now ahead of him.
As Percy dashed through the overgrown trail, he encountered a steep incline in the terrain with a small red flag planted at the bottom, a sign he was on the right track. Percy wasted no time and slid down the incline, clouds of dust following behind him.
Upon reaching the bottom, he triggered a mechanism that caused four shooting targets to ascend. Without wasting a moment, he raised his wispon. Aligning the reticle of the Hunting Wispons scope with the bullseye pattern of the shooting target.
Percy held his breath and squeezed the trigger. A shot rang out, and a light blue-ish streak of light flew from the barrel of his wispon to the dead centre of the shooting target. His shoulder absorbed the kickback of his wispon as it fired a shot.
He quickly tugged the bolt handle up and back with his curled pinky and swiftly closed it with his thumb and index finger. In that second, the spent, smoking case flipped from the port. Percy fired 3 more shots, repeating the entire process each time swiftly and nailing every shooting target.
Percy’s Hunting Wispon was unique. Given to him at a young age and modified throughout the years. This wispon, previously a hunting rifle, was a force to be reckoned with. It combined the power of a Wisp and the ferocity of a firearm.
The cyan wisp within was able to control the bullet. Enabling it to control its speed, lethality, velocity and power.
Despite being made of heavy materials with a questionable maintenance record, the hunting wispon accuracy, precision, and consistency in its shots outweighed the downsides enough for Percy.
He opened the bolt of his Hunting Wispon and grabbed five bullets from the chest pocket of his bomber jacket. He quickly inserted the five bullets into the chamber of the rifle and closed the bolt. He ascended from his crouched position and started running again.
As Percy continued to run through the forest, his breath only became heavier. He wasn’t good at running for long periods of time. While his speed can keep him on par with someone as fast as Sonic, he couldn’t keep up for a long time. Percy feared that this would spell the end for him in the Finals.
The heat of the afternoon sun was getting to him, and a salty sweat fell from his forehead. His limbs gradually felt heavy. He internally cursed his body that had little stamina. To his relief, he didn’t have to run for long. In the distance, he saw a bright flash at the end of the forest. It was an opening in the forest, and at the far end of the opening was the edge of a cliff.
This was the final stage of the Sunset City Sharpshooting competition; all he needed to do now was locate the final shooting target over a vast field and land a shot on it.
As Percy reached the opening of the forest, He felt the cool breeze make contact with his fur. The transition from the dimly lit forest to an opening that was fully enveloped by the sun's embrace blinded him for a second. Prompting him to close his eyes. He could hear the wind as it howled across the opening.
As he reopened his eyes, his biggest worry came to fruition. At the edge of the cliff was his opponent, a White fox with a wispon. His opponent was scanning the field for the shooting target, frustrated as he looked at the vast field.
Perhaps he could win this after all, he thought. But he realised something as he ran across the field. He was running on borrowed time. He was running far too fast to slow down.
If he slowed down to stop and seek the shooting target, his opponent would have enough time to find the shooting target first, take it down, and win the competition. Percy needed to win this competition; his ego demanded it. With his victory on the line, He made up his mind and chose a risky action.
Just meters away from the edge of the cliff, Percy made a small jump before bending his left knee and stretching his right leg. He slid dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. His opponent looked at him in shock for attempting such a risky move. As Percy slid closer to the edge, he aimed down the scope of his Hunting Wispon and took a deep breath.
It felt as if time slowed down for Percy as he looked through the scope. The sounds of the wind and his legs brushing the grass became muffled. The speed at which everything moved seemed to slow. The only sound he could hear was the pounding of his heart; it was slow and stern.
Every sense he had: Touch, Hearing, Smell. All of them were muffled to focus on what he deemed the most important to him right now: Sight. As he scanned the vast field, he found the shooting target, right under a small tree just barely poking out of the bush. All he needed was for him to stop.
It felt like eternity as he slid. For a moment, it felt as if he had miscalculated his stunt and feared that he would fall down the cliff. But at the edge of the cliff, he completely halted.
Percy shut his left eye. Time slowed, his surroundings blurred, and his heart pulsed louder. He aligned the reticle of the scope with the target. For a moment, he waited. He couldn’t shoot now, not when the wind was still far too strong.
It was subtle, but still enough to push his bullet far from its intended direction. His ears flickered to the direction of the wind, listening for a sign. At that moment, the wind had stopped suddenly. Branches stopped swaying as clouds slowed. Without hesitation, he squeezed the trigger.
A Powerful shot rang out across the field. Percy, who was deep in his mind, was caught off guard by the recoil and almost fell on his back. A streak of light exited his rifle, flying across the field. In less than the blink of an eye, it pierced through the shooting target, burying itself in the tree behind.
As Percy regained his senses, he looked over where he had taken his shot. His opponent looked at him in shock, for his stunt that would’ve ended with him at the bottom of the cliff paid off.
For a moment, Percy stared over the distant, damaged shooting target, shaken by his risky action. After a moment of silence, Percy realised that he had won his 30th Wispon Sharpshooting competition. A remarkable achievement in his short career and long streak. Percy raised his left fist and shouted victoriously.
“Haha! Boo-yah!”
Sunset City prided itself not only on its major merchant hub that traded jewels or the large, narrow, red bridge that the city is most prominent for, but also on its perseverance.
Despite the rampages of Eggman war and the Metal virus, Sunset City stood strong with its citizens rebuilding and repairing any damage done to their city. Such were the repairs done to the city that practically no scars can be seen from the chaos it endured.
The sun had recently set for the city, and its citizens were taking their rest from the work they had endured for the week. People were strolling through the city’s parks and malls, teens were hanging out with friends, and workers clocked out of work as they neared the end of their shifts. The long-awaited weekend had arrived, and everyone was eager to take a rest from all their hard work.
Percy walked down the slightly crowded sidewalk in Sunset City in a victorious mood. Carried on his left hand was his Hunting Wispon, which he had folded to make carrying easier. He had just won his 30th Wispon Sharp-shooting competition, and he wanted to celebrate such an achievement.
The sidewalk he marched on was wide, and trees occupied its edge near the road with benches between them. Lanterns lit the sidewalk in their luminescent glow.
Shops faintly underneath the building glowed to his side. They were varying in colour, appearance, shape, and size. Cars rolled passed, carrying a small breeze as they did. It brushed against the clothes of people who stood too close to the edge.
Levitating on both of his shoulders were two of his wisps. The Cyan wisp to his right appeared to be chattering to the Blue wisp to the left of Percy, who looked more keen on looking around the city than listening to the Cyan wisp.
The Cyan wisp noticed this and flew closer to Percy to get his attention. Percy took notice of this and spoke to the Blue wisp.
“Come on, Carlos, Yuri wants to talk. He loves talking to you”
Carlos rolled his eyes in response. Percy raised an eyebrow, intrigued by his reply. He stopped walking down the sidewalk for a bit.
“Look, I know Yuri is annoying to you, but he really loves speaking to you. At least try to hear him out just once.”
Carlos looked aside, mulling over for a moment. Eventually, he gave out what looked like a large sigh and drifted to Yuri. The blue wisp excitedly spun around before unleashing a large amount of chatter. Percy smiled faintly and eventually continued to walk down the sidewalk.
The sidewalk was populated as Percy walked past. All of them varied. Some were Mobians, others were Humans. Some walked alone, others walked in groups or pairs. All of them wore differently, some casual, others professional.
He saw a few who talked, they did so differently. Some spoke loudly, others quietly. All of them talked at a variance. Percy couldn’t make out what exactly they were, nor did he bother to.
Their noise combined with the various sounds of the city. The chatter of people, the hums of the cars rolling by. All of these noises echoed across the busy city.
Percy did not like the noise. His ears had picked up almost every noise of the city. His ears fixed forward, trying to pick up as little of the noise as it could. He bit his inner lip, trying to cope with all the noise. At least he was used to all of this, he thought.
They eventually arrived at their destination, a small but popular ice cream parlour. It sat beneath an apartment building. A canopy hung above the large rectangular window, sporting a bright red and white colour.
To the left of the window was the entrance to the parlour, A windowed door. Flowers lined the windows in a long, rectangular pot. They all varied in colour. Their palette was fixed in a tricolour, adding to the parlour's charm.
Percy couldn’t see its interior. A line had formed from within and extended all the way outside the parlour. Its window was filled with people eager to cool off after a long day of work. A yellow, radiant glow from the window was the only evidence of what the interior looked like.
Percy, itching to get ice cream, sighed and looked around outside the parlour. Six tables, each with a folded umbrella and 4 seats, were spread out outside the parlour, all were occupied except for one in a corner.
Percy approached this table, placing his folded Hunting Wispon on top and looked to his Wisps.
“Carlos, Yuri. Wait there whilst I get our ice cream. This might take a while.”
The Blue and Cyan wisps happily obliged, eager to eat ice cream as much as Percy was. As both wisps settled on the table, Yuri continued to yap to Carlos. Percy left and joined the long line from the end, tapping his foot impatiently.
After a few minutes, Percy finally got a large Ice cream and headed towards the table with his Wisps and Hunting Wispon.
The ice cream was massive. Sitting in a large paper bowl, it was composed of five scoops of ice cream. Five scoops of ice cream of different flavours sat underneath a strawberry magic shell that coated most of the ice cream.
Sprinkles were evenly distributed across the ice cream, and to top it all off, a cherry sat on top. The ice cream gleamed from the street lights as Percy walked to the table.
Percy grabbed his Hunting Wispon and placed the bowl of ice cream down atop the table. Carlos and Yuri looked at the ice cream in awe. Carlos tried to get close to take a bite until Yuri slapped him, wanting everyone to take a bite at the same time.
Percy unfolded his Hunting Wispons and placed them beside him as he sat down at the table. Percy gave two small spoons to Carlos and Yuri and leaned forward to the ice cream. He gave both wisps a pat in the head and raised a spoon.
“To our 30th Wispon Sharpshooting competition victory!”
The two wisps raised their small spoons in unison, and the three began to consume the ice cream. Percy tried his best not to grab a large scoop of ice cream, allowing Yuri and Carlos to get their share equally.
Percy savoured the sweet taste of the ice cream, which was enhanced by its cold temperature. The texture was just perfect for an ice cream. Not too hard, nor too soft. Each bite only made Percy want more.
After barely a few minutes, the large paper bowl, which had contained a significant amount of ice cream, was nearly empty. Percy giggled internally as the three of them tried their best to conserve the ice cream for as long as possible.
As the three of them devoured the remnants of a once large ice cream, Percy overheard the whispering, young voices from a table just behind him.
“Is that the Perceptive Feline, Percy the Lynx? I heard he won the Sunset City Wispon Sharpshooting competition!” the young high-pitched voice excitedly asked.
“That's definitely him, he’s the only Marksman I’ve seen with that kind of wispon!”
Another young, higher-pitched voice responded.
Percy didn’t dare to look back, but he knew that behind him were two young teens, a Mobian and a human, who sat at a table. Percy stopped consuming the Ice cream, and his left ear slowly turned to the two young teens behind him.
Carlos and Yuri noticed this and urged Percy to continue eating with them. Percy looked at them and nodded, indicating it was fine for them to finish without him.
The two wisps excitedly nodded back and ate the ice cream at an even faster rate. Percy clasped his hands and continued to eavesdrop on the two young people.
“Dude, have you heard that he won 30 different Wispon Sharpshooting competitions!” exclaimed the young human
“And he’s won 12 competitions in a row, that is such an impressive feat!”
“Bro, that’s sick! I also heard that he nailed an Eggman super badnik that was so distant, it took almost five seconds for the bullet to nail the Superbadnik right in its head!” Claimed the young Mobian
“No shot!”
Percy felt proud. As the two young teens continued to discuss Percy’s feats in marksmanship, Percy thought of how far he had come. It was only a year ago that he joined his first Wispon sharpshooting competition, and since then, he has won almost every single one.
The prizes he won from each of those competitions were enough to land him a nice apartment in Central City. He had also earned enough to purchase the necessary equipment he needed for a gun workshop.
Percy has never been happier, and he couldn’t help but smile. He was close to achieving his goal; his aspiration to become the greatest marksman in the world was coming to fruition. He dreamed that soon, his popularity would reach a height where he wouldn’t have to worry about being f-
“-But he’s not as good as Whisper the wolf, the Guardian Angel of the Battlefield!”
Percy stopped zoning out and raised an eyebrow to that claim. ‘The Guardian Angel of the Battlefield?’ He thought to himself. He had never heard of such. The nickname made Percy Curious. Even Percy’s Wisp grew curious. Together, the three continued to eavesdrop.
“How can you make that claim? Especially after all the feats of Percy we just talked about!” asked the young human.
“Well, let’s see…”
“Whisper the Wolf fought in the Eggman War! She saved so many soldiers from their doom and helped Sonic the Hedgehog in his adventures! From what I heard, she has taken down much more enemies than Percy! She was also part of a group, if I recall, but it broke up.”
Percy’s curiosity only grew. As the young mobian continued to ramble about her feats. Percy’s thoughts had turned to those of Whisper. He admitted these achievements are larger than his own. Percy couldn’t help but smirk. His dream of becoming the world’s greatest marksman was blocked once more.
In his way stood the Guardian Angel of the Battlefield, Whisper the Wolf. Percy wanted to meet Whisper. He wanted to personally meet her face-to-face and one day surpass her. As Percy fidgeted with his fingers, eager to meet Whisper, the young teen behind him gave a clue on where she could be.
“-I heard she fought a bad guy with a few friends of Sonic in the Rainbow Ravine and won!”
‘Rainbow Ridge’ Percy repeated in his mind. He reached underneath his bomber jacket and pulled out his journal, writing it down.
As he did, the two young teens stood up and left their table, seemingly finished with their ice cream and wanting to take their conversation elsewhere. As they did, they passed by Percy, and he finally saw what they looked like.
The young human was far shorter than the giraffe mobian. His red cap barely reached the height of Mobian's muzzle as he tilted his head slightly up to face his friend. The young Mobian only had to turn his eyes down to his friend as they both continued their discussion.
As they walked down the sidewalk, the Mobian looked over his shoulder and glanced at Percy for a while. Percy glanced back with a smirk on his face. Prompting the young Mobian to look away. When the young teens left their sights, the Wisps looked at Percy and nodded at him. Percy did the same and stood up, gripping his Wispon.
“Welp, lads, we’re heading to Rainbow Ravine!” Percy announced to his wisps
The Wisps drifted beside his shoulders. Percy folded the stock of his wispon and grabbed the large empty paper bowl that previously contained ice cream. He threw the paper bowl in a nearby trash bin and began to walk down the sidewalk.
The sidewalk had become more sparse. Fewer people walked down the pavement as a single car rolled down the road. The city had become much quieter as faint noises of traffic reverberated throughout the city. A cold wind brushed against the fur on his muzzle.
Percy looked to the stars with a confident smile on his face and internally proclaimed:
‘Beware, Whisper the Wolf. I, Percy the Lynx, your greatest rival, am coming to surpass you!’